(Almost) Flourless Chocolate Cake with Port & Balsamic Glazed Cherries

I have been DYING to make this recipe for a long time ever since I saw the pictures the blog, designspongeonline.com (which I will post here and cannot, by any means, take credit for). I mean, look at them. If you're mouth isn't salivating then you must be crazy.

Well, my good friend and dance buddy, Lauren, from Cal Poly came in town last Saturday to visit. She traveled all the way from the warm farm town of Yuba City to enter the June Gloom of San Francisco. Besides her inappropriate summer clothes, she brought with her a HUGE basket of bing cherries - picked from a tree in her very own back yard! My am I jealous! Then again, I'd have to live in Yuba City... Since we were hanging out for the day we decided it'd be fun to bake something with them. We both decided that chocolate would have to be the vessel (naturally). Finally, I found my excuse to make this lovely and delicious cake.

This cake is nuts. It is beyond good. I'm not sure about the readers here but sometimes I swoon when I eat certain foods (truffles, chocolate, balsamic vinegar, to name a few). I was swooning. This is super dense but still moist. I've made flourless chocolate cake before that was very dry and disappointing. This was not! The addition of cinnamon and espresso powder to this dish is what really makes it stand out. The bonus? Well, you have to use port for the reduction sauce which means you'll have leftovers to drink with your cake!

The Cake:

• 12 - 14 oz chocolate ( I prefer 56% or higher cacao)
• 2 Tblsp Cocoa powder (dark, dutch process is best!)
• 1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp espresso powder
• 5 Tblsp Flour
• 5 eggs
  
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup)
  

Cherries:

• 1 pound cherries, stemmed, pitted (I recommend buying a pitter for this, Lauren saved me!)
  
• 3/4 cup ruby Port ( I used Justin 'Obtuse' Port)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Butter and Flour a 10" springform pan (or you can use a fluted torte pan so long as it has a removable bottom)

2. Set oven to 375º

3. Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Set aside

4. Melt and stir butter and chocolate together over double boiler until everything is melted and smooth.

5. Beat eggs and sugar in mixer until starting to thicken.

6. Add remaining dry ingredients to mixer, and fold in slowly.

7. Slowly fold in melted chocolate to dry mixture so eggs do not curdle. You can temper it by adding a little of the warm chocolate mixture to the egg mixture first to raise the temperature.

8. Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

9. While cake is baking, prepare cherry mixture

10. Stir cherries, port, sugar, and vinegar in heavy large skillet over high heat until sugar dissolves.

11. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until cherries are soft and wooden spoon leaves path in sauce when drawn across bottom of skillet, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

12. Pull cake out of oven to cool.

13. Serve cake with cherry compote.

Buon Appetito!
- Lindsay